Dodgers Nearing Deal With Marcus Thames

The Dodgers are on the verge of signing free agent outfielderMarcus Thames, baseball sources tell MLB.com's Ken Gurnick. However, the club declined to confirm that a signing of the 33-year-old is close. Thames would provide the Dodgers with right-handed power and could platoon withJay Gibbons in left field.

Sources say that the Dodgers are also looking at veteransEric Chavezand Gabe Kapler as they search for a power bat. The front office also is thinking about moving Matt Kempfrom center field to right, Andre Ethier right field to left, and Tony Gwynn starting in center field. That alignment would help fortify the Dodgers' defense but Gwynn must perform well at the plate in Spring Training in order to make that a possibility.

couldn’t be much worse defense than we had in left last year. I’m thinking that a Thames signing would keep the Gwynn in centerfield talk alive long enough to make spring training interesting. Chavez or Kapler would not be good investments.

“couldn’t be much worse defense than we had in left last year.” As Bill Cosby says you don’t mess with worse, because it will always get you back in the end. I say this as a Yankee fan who had to suffer watching Marcus “I can drop a pop up” Thames last year, yes he really is as brutal as advertised (but boy can he hit).

Next time you look at players stats check his games played. In 2006 and 2008 he played just over 100 games and those years he hit 26 and 25 homeruns. The last couple seasons he has only played 80+ games and hit between 12-15 homeruns. He ins’t some allstar player but he does have a lot of pop and would be nice to have hime platoon with Gibbons strictly against lefties and Gibbs against righties.